For almost two years in the early 1960s, women in Boston lived in fear of a killer who became known as the Boston Strangler. Thirteen women were killed, and the murders were eventually attributed to Albert DeSalvo, based on his confession, details revealed in court during a separate case, and DNA evidence linking him to the last murder victim. It’s been over fifty years since DeSalvo was imprisoned on unrelated charges, leaving many people to question whether he was really the lone killer.
The Boston Strangler
- The Mad Strangler of Boston, an article by the creator of Perry Mason that appeared in The Atlantic in 1964.
- In 2002, the Boston Globe profiled all 13 victims attributed to the Boston Strangler.
- A LIFE magazine pictorial from 1963 showing the creative ways women in Boston planned to protect themselves from the Strangler.
- If you can believe it, this is our fourth episode about serial killers in Boston. We’ve previously profiled the Boy Fiend, the Giggler, and the Nightmare Nurse.
Strangler Reading List
- The Boston Strangler, Gerald Frank
- A Death in Belmont, Sebastian Junger
- The Boston Stranglers: The Public Conviction of Albert DeSalvo and the True Story of Eleven Shocking Murders, Susan Kelly
- The Boston Strangler (New England Remembers), Alan Rogers
- A Rose for Mary: The Hunt for the Real Boston Strangler, Casey Sherman & Dick Lehr
- Search for the Strangler: My Hunt for Boston’s Most Notorious Killer, Casey Sherman & Dick Lehr
Featured Historic Site
Our featured historic site this week is the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation in Waltham. It’s located in an old mill building that was once used as a textile mill when Waltham was at the very heart of the industrial revolution in the new United States and then later as a watch factory when Waltham was establishing itself as “Watch City, USA.”
The mission of the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation is to encourage and inspire future innovation in America. There are exhibits on the role of Waltham and New England on the industrial revolution, as well as a gallery of watches made in Waltham.
The Museum is open for limited hours Thursday through Sunday and will reopen on February 17th after some renovations to improve its wheelchair accessibility.
Upcoming Event(s)
We’re actually featuring two upcoming events this week, both of which will be held at the Boston Athenaeum. The first is part of a series they call their “Up Close Tours,” which encourage visitors to look closely at materials from the Athenæum’s rich collections and consider them within a particular context. On February 7 and February 21, Docent Joyce Bowden will lead a journey through 100 years of the Adams Family’s public service as illuminated by four objects in the Athenæum’s special collections. Joyce will lead a discussion around John Adams and Thomas Jefferson’s correspondence, John Quincy Adams’s defense of the Amistad captives, and Charles Francis Adams’ work to keep England out of the US Civil War. Both tours will be held at 11am. There is no charge beyond normal admission fees, but advanced registration is required.
Because we know not everyone can attend an event at 11am on a weekday, we’re also featuring an evening lecture, Exodus from Dixie: The Great Migration as a Social Movement, on March 1 from 6 to 7pm. From their website:
Between 1915 and 1930 over 1.5 million African Americans fled the U.S. south for northern and western cities locales. Just ten years later, another six million would begin the same trek in search of a better life. This epic migration literally changed the complexion of America. But why did it take place? Standard accounts mark the closing off of European migration during World War I and the need for industrial labor. However, by listening to the voices, hearing the songs, and viewing the artwork, of actual migrants uncovers a different story. The Great Migration was not simply a response to economic forces; these migrants were “quitting the south.”
Tracing the lives of migrants reveals the Great Migration as a social movement, what many called an “Exodus from Dixie.” And yet, upon entering the urban north and west, the American Dream remained elusive. The liberties of walking tall, voting in elections, and working on integrated shop floors came with the price of racially restrictive neighborhoods, fire bombings and race riots, and unfair policing and hiring practices. Following the path of southern migrants in search of a better life, with its twists and detours, speaks to the hopes and limits of the American Dream for us all.
Registration is required, and tickets are $20 for non-members.